The administration of Al-Razeen prison in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have deliberately refused to give the prisoners of conscience appropriate winter clothes and blankets and prevented their families from bringing any clothes or jackets that would protect them from the extreme cold which characterizes the desert region, in which Al-Razeen Prison is located where temperatures fall to record levels.

In fact, the detainee’s exposure to extreme cold in Al-Razeen prison without having any warm clothes including the elderly and ill persons, have increased their suffering and worsened their situation.

Besides, this deliberate deprivation from warm winter clothes against the prisoners of conscience is an inhumane treatment and a violation of humans’ dignity, as well as the right to adequate clothing of prisoners in accordance with article 17 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of 13 May 1977 : “Every prisoner who is not allowed to wear his own clothing shall be provided with an outfit of clothing suitable for the climate and adequate to keep him in good health. Such clothing shall in no manner be degrading or humiliating.”

The authorities of Al-Razeen prison, known as Guantánamo of UAE, have consistently mistreated and intimidated prisoners of conscience and inflicted the most severe sanctions on them, such as solitary confinement, humiliating searches, beatings, starvation, preventing visits, neglecting health and exposure to high or low temperatures without providing the minimum needs and other ill-treatment of detainees, especially the UAE 94 group as a form of abuse and degradation.

The International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR) therefore calls upon the authorities of the UAE to:

1. Treat the prisoners of conscience humanely and refrain from violating their dignity and grant them all their rights recognized by the Federal Law on Penal Institutions and relevant international standards, and give them appropriate warm clothes that would protect them from the extreme cold in Al Razeen prison in the desert.2. Conduct a serious and impartial investigation into the violations of the prisoners’ dignity in UAE jails and hold accountable all those responsible for these violations and give the victims the right to reparation and rehabilitation.3. Allow United Nations bodies, Special Rapporteurs and international organizations to visit prisoners in UAE jails and check the commitment of Emirati authorities to international standards on the treatment of detainees.